Notes: This would've been up sooner, but they apparently had a problem with
another one of my stories and I was banned from uploading for a week.
Never knew the word "dirty" was taboo in descriptions...it was only a PG-
fic, too. Anyway, I love how people predict me...how soon you shall be
corrected. Sorry if Yuna gets a tiny bit OOC here, but I was always
annoyed with how silent she was in the game anyway.
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Chapter 2 - Eyes Lie
Rikku plodded through the snow back to camp as slowly as she could. She didn't want to face Auron or the others, but she knew Yuna would worry, so she had to return. She entered the clearing and scrambled into her tent as quickly as she could to escape notice. The laughter of her fellow guardians and summoner could be heard outside as they ate, but she found her appetite to be amiss. Her mind kept straying to Auron. He was always the strong one, never needing comforting or healing unless it was a serious wound. Even then, he never really accepted much help, save a potion here or there. Between herself, Wakka and Tidus, they expressed enough emotion to cover for Auron's lack of it...but she never thought he could be hiding something so simple.
/So he's lonely...big deal. It's none of my business what he does in his spare time./
After the campfire had been doused, Yuna peeked into the tent to find Rikku staring up at the canvas. "Rikku? Are you ok?" she asked, securing the entrance before untying her bow and preparing for the night. "Hm? Yeah...I'm fine." Rikku answered, not bothering to see the look of concern on her cousins' face. As Yuna brushed her hair out, Rikku sat up and put her arms around the summoners' shoulders, "Yunie...you know I can't let this continue..." Yuna turned and looked at her, slightly puzzled, "Let what continue?" "This pilgrimage...Yunie, you're gonna die if you keep this up. You get the Final Aeon, and it's all over, you know? How are we gonna feel then? Guardians...we guard our summoner this whole time, only to see her die anyway at the end? And for what? A few years of The Calm? Yunie, your life isn't worth that! If you die, you're leaving us all behind! Me, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, Auron, Tidus...." With Tidus' name, she fell silent for a minute. "He's...he's in love with you, you know? And you are too! Are you going to just throw all that away?!" She looked up, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, to find Yuna spellbound by the outpour of emotions coming from the Al Bhed. "Rikku...I-" Yuna held her hand up and wiped at the tears that now flowed down her own face. "It's my duty as a summoner...I chose this path. I knew what it meant, and I still do. But it's my job to being peace to Spira, just as it was for my father." "What about Tidus? How do you think he feels?" Rikku asked, her voice quivering as the damp trails on her cheeks grew longer. Yuna sighed, "I know how he feels...same as you...I don't want to die, either, but that's a summoner's duty. Summon the Final Aeon, bring The Calm to Spira. Rikku, can we just drop the subject? Zanarkand is on the other side of Gagazet...and I want to spend this time happily." Yuna smiled and hugged her cousin before going back to preparing for bed. Rikku sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could say to get her to discontinue the journey at hand. "I'll think of something..." she muttered.
Later that night, Rikku found herself laying awake, still thinking of that afternoon.
/Tysh ed...why can't I get him out of my mind? Am I a pervert? No, he's the pervert.../
Finally, she poked Yuna and roused her from her sleep. "Yunie?" "Mm? Rikku...wha?" Yuna mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. "About Auron...is he...ok?" Rikku questioned, not wanting to be obvious. Yuna's eyes slowly opened and focused on the darkness where Rikku's voice came from. "What do you mean? We've been in camp...of course he's ok. The last fiends were back a couple thousand yards." With that, she yawned and turned over. "No, I mean mentally...he hides so much from us...is there something I should know?" Yuna's eyes opened again as she thought this one over. Auron did hide a lot of things...she trusted him because he was a guardian of her father, not because she REALLY knew him like she did Wakka and Lulu. "I...don't know. He never talks about himself...and father never mentioned anything. He's safe, because he guarded my father, and he left Auron to take care of me when he completed his pilgrimage." "Yeah, guess you're right..." Rikku knew she wasn't going to get answers this way.
The next morning, she got up early. Auron was always the first one up, and she wasn't going to let herself lose any more sleep pondering her fellow guardians habits. She was going to understand him once and for all. Rikku wandered around the snowy peaks for a while, the white powder crunching slightly underneath her feet. Looking up, she saw the sun rise over the mountaintop and cast the entire area into a glittering blanket of snow and sunlight. A dark shadow moved across a nearby peak and she turned in that direction. "Auron?" she questioned, but no answer. Suddenly, a high- pitched screech echoed through the area as a Grat materialized into the clearing. Rikku found herself surrounded by the rocky cliffs on three sides, with the fiend blocking her only means of escape. Snapping the claws out on her Hot Knuckles, she charged forward and slashed, managing to catch a small chunk from its left side. The Grat wiggled and shot out a huge seed, giving Rikku a direct hit to the stomach. She rolled to the ground, curling into the fetal position and coughing out a small amount of blood. As the fiend edged closer, she moaned and tried to dig a potion out from her pocket, but the throbbing sensation in her stomach allowed her no movement. As consciousness became harder for her to grasp, Rikku let out a few ragged breaths before the world went black.
As the Grat closed in for a final hit, Auron made his way to the cliff above. The Al Bhed was unconscious and about to lose completely. He unhooked his sword from its ties and jumped down, running the fiend straight through from above. A burst of pyreflies and there was nothing left, save a little slime on the blade. He lay down his weapon and released a Hi-potion on the girl, letting its swirling light enter her stomach and heal the internal injuries. One jade eye slowly slid open as Rikku fought her way back into the living world. "A-Aur…on…?" she mumbled, smiling a bit at the warm feeling the potion left on her stomach. He nodded and stood, securing his sword to his back once more and helping the girl to her feet. "Thank you…" she mumbled, beginning to regain her strength again. She picked up her weapon and secured the claws back into the glove, making sure that everything was in order again.
"Rikku, what exactly did you see the other day?" Auron questioned, his gaze focused beyond her face. "N-nothing!" she stammered, blushing at his query. He grunted and slid the sphere from its place inside his robe, placing it on the ground between them as the blue light began to flow from the top. She turned her head, "I...don't want to see that..." she whispered. "Neither did I...but it was a part of our lives. I watch it because I don't want to lose sight of what we work for." Rikku stared at the older guardian, completely puzzled.
/A part of our lives? What the hell?/
Finally, she glanced down at the sphere to find a miniature Kilika as it was being destroyed by Sin. Bodies lay everywhere, pieces of wood that once made up houses floated gently on the water, which was tinted a slight red. Her mouth fell open as the sphere showed the wreckage from several of their other encounters with Sin. Suddenly, Home appeared before her eyes and her eyes swelled with tears. She shot a hand out to an image of several Al Bhed, dying on the floor of the main hall. Her arm passed harmlessly through the illusion as she clawed at the air. Sobbing, she fell back and cried into her gloved hands. "Rusa (home)..." she sobbed, "Why did you record these things? Is this to torture me? I...I thought I had you figured out...and now you spring this on me! You're not a pervert, you're a morbid bastard!" Rikku ran off past Auron and into the fog beyond, leaving a very confused swordsman to contemplate her words.
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I was reading the comments and laughing. O ye of little faith...I may be a pervert at times, but I'm an original pervert. I, too, got sick of the "Auron whacks off to a sphere" stories and decided to do my own take on the whole sphere idea. They were used as cameras, so yes, you could record porn on them. But come on, this is Auron...if he were going to have a sphere, he would have had one with something a little more meaningful than Yuna getting boned by an Aeon and Tidus (yes, I actually read a fic with that somewhere). So for those of you who ranted on that, I'm sorry to have caused you to think I'd sink that low.
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Chapter 2 - Eyes Lie
Rikku plodded through the snow back to camp as slowly as she could. She didn't want to face Auron or the others, but she knew Yuna would worry, so she had to return. She entered the clearing and scrambled into her tent as quickly as she could to escape notice. The laughter of her fellow guardians and summoner could be heard outside as they ate, but she found her appetite to be amiss. Her mind kept straying to Auron. He was always the strong one, never needing comforting or healing unless it was a serious wound. Even then, he never really accepted much help, save a potion here or there. Between herself, Wakka and Tidus, they expressed enough emotion to cover for Auron's lack of it...but she never thought he could be hiding something so simple.
/So he's lonely...big deal. It's none of my business what he does in his spare time./
After the campfire had been doused, Yuna peeked into the tent to find Rikku staring up at the canvas. "Rikku? Are you ok?" she asked, securing the entrance before untying her bow and preparing for the night. "Hm? Yeah...I'm fine." Rikku answered, not bothering to see the look of concern on her cousins' face. As Yuna brushed her hair out, Rikku sat up and put her arms around the summoners' shoulders, "Yunie...you know I can't let this continue..." Yuna turned and looked at her, slightly puzzled, "Let what continue?" "This pilgrimage...Yunie, you're gonna die if you keep this up. You get the Final Aeon, and it's all over, you know? How are we gonna feel then? Guardians...we guard our summoner this whole time, only to see her die anyway at the end? And for what? A few years of The Calm? Yunie, your life isn't worth that! If you die, you're leaving us all behind! Me, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, Auron, Tidus...." With Tidus' name, she fell silent for a minute. "He's...he's in love with you, you know? And you are too! Are you going to just throw all that away?!" She looked up, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, to find Yuna spellbound by the outpour of emotions coming from the Al Bhed. "Rikku...I-" Yuna held her hand up and wiped at the tears that now flowed down her own face. "It's my duty as a summoner...I chose this path. I knew what it meant, and I still do. But it's my job to being peace to Spira, just as it was for my father." "What about Tidus? How do you think he feels?" Rikku asked, her voice quivering as the damp trails on her cheeks grew longer. Yuna sighed, "I know how he feels...same as you...I don't want to die, either, but that's a summoner's duty. Summon the Final Aeon, bring The Calm to Spira. Rikku, can we just drop the subject? Zanarkand is on the other side of Gagazet...and I want to spend this time happily." Yuna smiled and hugged her cousin before going back to preparing for bed. Rikku sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could say to get her to discontinue the journey at hand. "I'll think of something..." she muttered.
Later that night, Rikku found herself laying awake, still thinking of that afternoon.
/Tysh ed...why can't I get him out of my mind? Am I a pervert? No, he's the pervert.../
Finally, she poked Yuna and roused her from her sleep. "Yunie?" "Mm? Rikku...wha?" Yuna mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. "About Auron...is he...ok?" Rikku questioned, not wanting to be obvious. Yuna's eyes slowly opened and focused on the darkness where Rikku's voice came from. "What do you mean? We've been in camp...of course he's ok. The last fiends were back a couple thousand yards." With that, she yawned and turned over. "No, I mean mentally...he hides so much from us...is there something I should know?" Yuna's eyes opened again as she thought this one over. Auron did hide a lot of things...she trusted him because he was a guardian of her father, not because she REALLY knew him like she did Wakka and Lulu. "I...don't know. He never talks about himself...and father never mentioned anything. He's safe, because he guarded my father, and he left Auron to take care of me when he completed his pilgrimage." "Yeah, guess you're right..." Rikku knew she wasn't going to get answers this way.
The next morning, she got up early. Auron was always the first one up, and she wasn't going to let herself lose any more sleep pondering her fellow guardians habits. She was going to understand him once and for all. Rikku wandered around the snowy peaks for a while, the white powder crunching slightly underneath her feet. Looking up, she saw the sun rise over the mountaintop and cast the entire area into a glittering blanket of snow and sunlight. A dark shadow moved across a nearby peak and she turned in that direction. "Auron?" she questioned, but no answer. Suddenly, a high- pitched screech echoed through the area as a Grat materialized into the clearing. Rikku found herself surrounded by the rocky cliffs on three sides, with the fiend blocking her only means of escape. Snapping the claws out on her Hot Knuckles, she charged forward and slashed, managing to catch a small chunk from its left side. The Grat wiggled and shot out a huge seed, giving Rikku a direct hit to the stomach. She rolled to the ground, curling into the fetal position and coughing out a small amount of blood. As the fiend edged closer, she moaned and tried to dig a potion out from her pocket, but the throbbing sensation in her stomach allowed her no movement. As consciousness became harder for her to grasp, Rikku let out a few ragged breaths before the world went black.
As the Grat closed in for a final hit, Auron made his way to the cliff above. The Al Bhed was unconscious and about to lose completely. He unhooked his sword from its ties and jumped down, running the fiend straight through from above. A burst of pyreflies and there was nothing left, save a little slime on the blade. He lay down his weapon and released a Hi-potion on the girl, letting its swirling light enter her stomach and heal the internal injuries. One jade eye slowly slid open as Rikku fought her way back into the living world. "A-Aur…on…?" she mumbled, smiling a bit at the warm feeling the potion left on her stomach. He nodded and stood, securing his sword to his back once more and helping the girl to her feet. "Thank you…" she mumbled, beginning to regain her strength again. She picked up her weapon and secured the claws back into the glove, making sure that everything was in order again.
"Rikku, what exactly did you see the other day?" Auron questioned, his gaze focused beyond her face. "N-nothing!" she stammered, blushing at his query. He grunted and slid the sphere from its place inside his robe, placing it on the ground between them as the blue light began to flow from the top. She turned her head, "I...don't want to see that..." she whispered. "Neither did I...but it was a part of our lives. I watch it because I don't want to lose sight of what we work for." Rikku stared at the older guardian, completely puzzled.
/A part of our lives? What the hell?/
Finally, she glanced down at the sphere to find a miniature Kilika as it was being destroyed by Sin. Bodies lay everywhere, pieces of wood that once made up houses floated gently on the water, which was tinted a slight red. Her mouth fell open as the sphere showed the wreckage from several of their other encounters with Sin. Suddenly, Home appeared before her eyes and her eyes swelled with tears. She shot a hand out to an image of several Al Bhed, dying on the floor of the main hall. Her arm passed harmlessly through the illusion as she clawed at the air. Sobbing, she fell back and cried into her gloved hands. "Rusa (home)..." she sobbed, "Why did you record these things? Is this to torture me? I...I thought I had you figured out...and now you spring this on me! You're not a pervert, you're a morbid bastard!" Rikku ran off past Auron and into the fog beyond, leaving a very confused swordsman to contemplate her words.
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I was reading the comments and laughing. O ye of little faith...I may be a pervert at times, but I'm an original pervert. I, too, got sick of the "Auron whacks off to a sphere" stories and decided to do my own take on the whole sphere idea. They were used as cameras, so yes, you could record porn on them. But come on, this is Auron...if he were going to have a sphere, he would have had one with something a little more meaningful than Yuna getting boned by an Aeon and Tidus (yes, I actually read a fic with that somewhere). So for those of you who ranted on that, I'm sorry to have caused you to think I'd sink that low.